Early BlackBerry Z10 sales feedback looking good

We've had the rare privilege in the UK of seeing the North America-made BlackBerry Z10 go on sale here before it makes its debut in the US, and early indications are that it's been shifting at a decent rate.

Analyst Peter Misek says feedback from retailers suggests “widespread sell-outs”, while networks are also reporting a brisk trade in the BlackBerry 10 handset.

Misek – of analyst firm Jefferies – said in a research note on the weekend that a number of Phones4U branches had sold out completely of the white BlackBerry Z10 (it being a Phones4U exclusive for now), while demand for the black version is also strong.

Whether that includes pre-orders of the white Z10 from non-Phones4U sources remains to be seen, but either way it's fairly impressive going for BlackBerry, and hints that the strategy of holding back on the official BlackBerry 10 launch until the Z10 was ready to go on sale has proved successful.

Misek also reports “a solid start” to pre-orders in Canada and the UAE, where like the US the BlackBerry Z10 goes on sale next month. He suggests that with the US smartphone market being about five times bigger than the UK's, continued strong sales this side of the Atlantic “could bode very well for BlackBerry”.

Anyone out there have any tales from the front lines, as it were, on their attempts (hopefully successful) to get their hands on a BlackBerry Z10? Feel free to share in the Comments below!

Seems Ireland won't be getting it before March. Will give it a try then. I think. Not rushed into buying it sim-free.
I just heard Litchfield nagging about the confusing gestures of the new UI... bit odd coming from a Symbian and "MeeGo" fan. No mistake, I 'love' both, but the N9's swipe UI is inconsistent and incomplete, and Symbian is, well... confusing at times...
But it appears that a lot of anti-Rimmers honed in on the swipe gestures to diss the Z10.
Considering Android's many redundancies, inconsistent "back" and "menu" button implementations or the Note's many S-Pen gestures and shortcuts it's a bit 'random' to focus so violently on a few new gestures???!!!!

Might depend how essential those gestures are to use it. How awkward, unintuitive etc? Any pattern to those anti-rimmers? Seems on hukd that they are frequently wp fans
Several hundred thousand isn't exactly setting the world alight on launch though it's more positive than wp8 I guess. Also surely shouldn't be selling out with such volumes?

Pattern? Yes, a lot from the WP/Nokia camp claim BB10 too confusing. Maybe because of the enterprise focus they feel more threatened? Also many Android users who probably wouldn't consider buying a BB anyways...

I doubt it can be that hard. I used very different phones and gadgets for a long time when I got my first BB, and there was a learning curve even pre-OS7. Though similar to Symbian there were many very uniquely BB steps... From all I have seen BB10 is much closer to other OSs - though, THAT too can make it confusing.
At least the separate data add-ons are a thing of the past, so that should lighten the confusion-load.

You know where to find me when you get bored with it
I give you my N9 and, ahem.... the box.

Seriously, how's the camera? I 'heard' about the atrocious low-light performance, but daylight?

haha, already have 2 N9s.... dont really need another!

ive only taken a few pics, all on a sunny day, and id say the camera is pretty good. Much better than the N9, and the time shift bit is pretty amazing.
The only downside is the battery seems a bit poor, but then i have been messing about with it a lot over the last few days! (plus its removable so u could just stick another in)

ive only taken a few pics, all on a sunny day, and id say the camera is pretty good. Much better than the N9, and the time shift bit is pretty amazing.
The only downside is the battery seems a bit poor, but then i have been messing about with it a lot over the last few days! (plus its removable so u could just stick another in)

Ah removable batteries, not ideal but a damn sight better than a poor battery in a device that has a fixed batery! Plus hopefully over time as technology advances youll be able to get bigger batteries as well

Still very impressed with the Z10, looks really good, tho I still want to try BB10 on my playbook before I make the jump from iOS. Its certainly the main phone of 2013 that has my interest anyway, the rest of the usual samsung etc "slightly larger screen, slightly thinner" croud have a whole load of "MEH" coming their way